The India Today Conclave Mumbai 2022 featured an array of personalities talking on topics ranging from the politics of Maharashtra to Bollywood’s recent Box Office run.
The event also saw discussions on India’s economy, gender equality, and climate change. Here’s a a recap of what happened on Day 1 of India Today Conclave Mumbai 2022.
The India Today Conclave Mumbai 2022’s Day 1 held on Friday, November 4, highlighted various aspects of the country — ranging from politics, religion, and literature to culture and entertainment. Attended by stalwarts from various fields, Day 1 of the two-day India Today Conclave witnessed several exhilarating sessions.
The event was attended by eminent personalities like Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde, Shiv Sena (Uddhav faction) leader Aaditya Thackeray, MPs Priyanka Chaturvedi and Tejasvi Surya, British High Commissioner Alex Ellis, actors Abhishek Bachchan, Huma Qureshi, and Rajkummar Rao, and many others.
Here’s what went down on Day 1 of the India Today Conclave Mumbai 2022:
EKNATH SHINDE ON SENA REVOLT
The first session of the event saw Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde candidly speak of the events that led to the revolt against the Shiv Sena leadership, his chief ministership, his idea of governance, and the possibility of both Sena factions coming together in future.
“I never wanted to be the CM. Our MLAs were upset. That is why I took this [revolt against Sena leadership] step and I don’t think I have done anything wrong,” he said. He also said that the Sena-BJP alliance in the state is taking forward Balasaheb’s ideology and legacy and not Uddhav Thackeray.
BRITISH ENVOY ON INDIA-UK TIES
In the second session, British High Commissioner to India Alex Ellis sought to explain India-UK ties in the wake of the election of the first Indian-origin British PM, Rishi Sunak. ” Rishi Sunak is of Punjabi descent and a Hindu but his heart and mind are British,” said Alex Ellis.
The ambassador said that the course for India-UK ties was set when Britain left the European Union. “It is a much more geopolitically tense world and we have opportunities for migration and trade policies and there were good relations between Boris Johnson and PM Narendra Modi that continued with Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak,” he said. “We can not see a world in which the UK thrives without India thriving. There is a mutuality of interest that will get tighter in the future,” Ellis said.
ABHISHEK BACHCHAN ON IMPACT OF OTT PLATFORMS
Actor Abhishek Bachchan was the star of the third session, where he spoke about the impact of digital platforms on the entertainment industry. “We have become far too obsessed about collections and money as opposed to the content. Fortunately, digital platforms don’t put out numbers. It keeps the focus on content,” he said.
Bachchan said: “When OTT platforms came into being, everybody was accessible to anybody at the push of a button. We have a larger audience now and better reach. You can watch shows in every language… If you don’t write a good story, nobody will watch it.”
AADITYA THACKERAY’S ATTACK ON MAHA CM SHINDE
The fourth session saw Uddhav Thackeray’s son and Shiv Sena MLA Aaditya Thackeray launch a scathing attack on Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde for his revolt. Calling him and 39 other MLAs ‘gaddars’ (traitors), he said: “There is no other appropriate word to describe people who run away to another party. If this gets legitimized and happens across the country, there will be political unrest in every state. You will have random people claiming names and logos of parties.”
“We believe in promises. We believe in ‘praan jaye par vachan na jaye’. We wanted to work for a better Maharashtra. But for the monstrous ambitions of one man, they have taken Maharashtra behind,” Aaditya Thackeray said.
INDIA’S GROWTH AND RACE WITH CHINA
Speaking at the fourth session, Professor Vikram Gandhi, senior lecturer at Harvard Business School, said India will have a healthy growth over the next decade. However, he maintained that India, at the moment, is far behind China in terms of investment.
“There is some serious concern about supply chain concentration in China and there is a huge opportunity for manufacturing in India. There was some consistency in policy, which investors look at and I am optimistic that opportunity will grow,” he added. Talking about manufacturing in India, the former head of Morgan Stanley India said that people are concerned about the changes in geopolitics around China, but there are more people looking at Vietnam and Taiwan than towards India and the issue is that the execution is lacking.
WOMEN IN INDIAN POLITICS
Women politicians — Praniti Shinde, Priyanka Chaturvedi, Pankaja Shinde, and Heena Gavit — at the fifth session said that women need to be more conscious and push the boundaries to make themselves heard.
BJP’s National Secretary Pankaja Gopinath Munde said: “Women have to talk louder to make themselves heard”¦ We are judged a lot. All gestures of a man that are praised are frowned upon when they come from a woman. She is called aggressive and rebellious.” The other panellists echoed her.
THE ‘HINDI’ DEBATE
The sixth session saw an intense discussion on the Hindi-vs-non-Hindi issue. BJP MP from Karnataka Tejasvi Surya tore into Congress over its claims that the saffron party was imposing Hindi on non-Hindi speaking states and accused the grand old party of trying to impose Hindi via its three-language policy in 1968.
“For a very long time, Dravidian parties and the Congress have tried to create a bogey of Hindi imposition on the BJP. In the constituent assembly, when the then Congress leaders tried to declare Hindi as the national language, it was my leader Syama Prasad Mukherjee who vociferously defended the rights of non-Hindi speaking states,” the BJP Yuva Morcha chief said.
HUMA QURESHI ON ASSUMPTIONS OF WOMEN’S MORALITY
At the seventh session, actor Huma Qureshi spoke about how people have a lot of preconceived notions about an ambitious woman. “The only thing important for me is that whenever you see an ambitious woman or a hot woman, one comes up with a lot of pre-conceived notions about her morality. There is a lot of judgement that comes with it,” she said.
CLAIM FOR SHIVAJI’S LEGACY
Eminent authors and actors discussed the legacy of Chhatrapati Shivaji at the eighth session and explored the reasons why everyone sought to claim the great Maratha’s legacy. “Shivaji Maharaj framed policies, rejigged the administration and gave robust expression to religious plurality,” author Vaibhav Purandare said.
“Chhatrapati Shivaji set an example that religious authority should not overpower political authority. Instead, both should work hand-in-hand for the wellbeing of the people. From a political point of view, he was the first person who didn’t name his kingdom after himself,” said actor and MP Amol Kolhe.
REINVENTING BHARAT
Lawyer and author J Sai Deepak, historian AG Krishna Menon and Congress’ Sanjay Nirupam debated on decolonising India and Bharat’s attempts at reinvention in the ninth session. While Deepak said that Bharat is trying to move away from colonial vestiges, Menon termed the efforts “post-colonial self-goal”.
Speaking on the Central Vista project, Deepak said: “The larger message is perhaps Bharat is moving away from colonial vestiges and trying to reinvent itself, on its own terms, using its own philosophy.” However, historian Menon said: “We forget the fact that we are a civilisation and we have to move forward keeping all the good and the bad of the past.”
‘GIG ECONOMY HERE TO STAY’
The tenth session saw experts discussing moonlighting in detail as companies across India voiced their concerns around it. “As long as it does not come in the way of the primary job, doing side work is prevalent. At the same time, it is something that has not been documented. The issue that came out was to do with an incident where a contract was violated,” HR advisor Vineet Kaul said.
Speaking on the future of work, Prabir Jha, Founder & CEO, Prabir Jha People Advisory, said that the future of work will be an intersect as talent is not uniform, while some want to experiment others want tenure and the construct of talent staffing will change.
DEVDUTT PATTANAIK ON MAJORITY VS MINORITY
Speaking at the 11th session titled Pluralism is The Essence of India, mythologist-author Devdutt Pattanaik said that India is a collection of minorities and that nobody is a majority in India. ““Nature is diverse. It is how humans respond to diversity. Pluralism is a human form of diversity. Diversity is the stimulus. If you look at the map of India and you travel westward, you’ll find cultures that, for a thousand years told, every Sunday you have to pray,” he said.
KIREN RIJIJU SLAMS COLLEGIUM SYSTEM
Union Minister of Law and Justice Kiren Rijiju spoke in the 12th session of the day and explained what he called “faults” in the collegium system of judges’ appointments. “Collegium decides the names on the basis of their understanding of a particular judge. They also talk to the consultee judges who recommend names, he said.
Explaining the ‘flaw’ in this system, he said: “A consultee judge will recommend only those whom he knows. They won’t recommend someone they don’t know even if s/he is qualified and fit enough to be a judge of the SC or HC.”
NITIN GADKARI ON REDUCING ACCIDENTS
The road and highways ministry is working to halve road accidents in India by 2024, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said at the 13th session. “The highways that are being constructed now are being done after taking several considerations into account. I humbly accept that I have not had much success in terms of curbing road accidents,” the minister said.
‘HINDI FILMS ARE GETTING THEIR A**ES KICKED’
At the final session of the day, actor Varun Dhawan spoke about the flak that the Hindi film industry has been receiving. He also lauded Rishab Shetty’s Kantara for direction and content. He said Hindi films are getting their a**es kicked right now. Varun Dhawan also expressed his desire to work with South megastars such as Kamal Hasaan and Rajinikanth.